English Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Fourth Centenary
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
ENGLISH BARTOLOMÉ ESTEBAN MURILLO FOURTH CENTENARY To mark the four hundredth anniversary of Murillo’s birth, this museum has brought together fifty-five of his works. Universal artist identified with Seville, inter- preting the themes of the city’s devotion, dec- orating some of its most emblematic monu- ments with his paintings, and capturing its residents from all walks of life on his canvases. The exhibition is organised around thematic criteria reflecting the painter’s personal vision of the religious and civic context in which he lived. His profound, intuitive and eminently humane eye enabled him to render that con- text in an inspiring manner, whether he was painting beggars or nobles. His creative skill and sincere spirituality are also clearly mani- fested in the devotional paintings he produced, which are filled with details of daily life, while his moving conception of the transcendental is [ 2 ] [ 3 ] conveyed through images that are both highly original and beautiful. The nine sections into which the exhibition is divided provide a glimpse of the world through Murillo’s eyes: from the religious paintings which introduced such memorable prototypes in the history of art—with a particular exper- tise in the case of the Immaculate Concep- tion—to the social reality of 17th-century Se- ville, a city of paupers and saints, of rascals and wealthy noblemen and merchants who could afford to have their portraits painted by the famous master. This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to revisit many of his works and discover new ones. Above all, it is a chance to see how Mu- rillo combines his genius use of technical and I. Holy Chilhood compositional devices with the profoundly ten- II. A family der gaze that he casts over his subjects. of Nazareth III. Glory on Earth IV. The Inmaculate Conception V. Compassion [ 4 ] 1. The Good Shepherd About 1665 Oil on canvas, 123 × 101.7 cm Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid The scene unfolds in a bucolic country setting replete with classical allusions in the form of archaeological ruins. Murillo gave the boy an air of determination, apparent in his firm grasp on the staff. Jesus is portrayed as the Good Shepherd, a beautiful and effective evangelis- ing metaphor of Christ. The tenderness of the scene is underscored by the sheep Jesus is caressing, a representation of the Agnus Dei VI. Penitence (Lamb of God) mentioned in the Scriptures, at VII. Storyteller the moment when John the Baptist sees the VIII. Genre painting boy and cries, “Behold, the Lamb of God”. The IX. Portraits imagery of the lamb expresses the obedient submission to the divine plan that would cul- minate in his death on the cross. [ 7 ] 2. 3. Virgin and Child Jesus Virgin and Child About 1675 About 1670-1680 Oil on canvas, 164 × 108 cm Oil on canvas, 166 × 115 cm Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica, Palazzo Barberini Staatliche Kunstsammlungen y Galleria Corsini, Rome Dresden, Gemäldegalerie alter Meister, Dresde This Virgin and Child is from Murillo’s late The theme of the seated Virgin and Child period and represents the pinnacle of his against a dark background appears frequently development of this iconographic theme. It and with numerous variations in Murillo’s leaves behind the Tenebrism of earlier decades works, satisfying the high demand for paintings and prefigures Rococo-style painting. The of this type, which expressed a sweet, intimate semi-darkness that envelops the figures of the religious sentiment. Mary’s gaze is different here Virgin and Child in the artist’s first period is from other works on this theme: her eyes are replaced here by an outdoor setting, with turned upwards, and she sighs heavily—per- architectural ruins invaded by vegetation form- haps a gesture of maternal bliss or a premoni- ing the backdrop to the intimate conversation tion of the future grief that will break her heart. between mother and child, interrupted by the spectator’s gaze. This painting is the only Spanish school work in Dresden, intentionally purchased as a Spanish During the 19th century this work enjoyed picture in 1755. During the revolutionary upris- immense fame, as testified by the numerous ings of 1849, the canvas was perforated by sev- copies. It became the icon of the Galleria Cors- eral bullets. News of the mutilation spread to ini, where it was known as The Gypsy Madonna. Spain, where the Madrid newspapers reported the occurrence. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] 4. 5. The Mystic Marriage Mystical Wedding of Saint Catherine, 1655 of Saint Catherine, Red and black chalk before 1655 on light beige paper, Oil on canvas, 182 × 206 mm 76.5 × 94.5 cm Hamburger Kunsthalle, Museu Nacional Kupferstichkabinett, de Arte Antiga, Lisbon Hamburgo The three figures in the composition were This tender scene shows the Virgin and Child drawn with vigorous red ochre lines on a soft accompanied by the figure of a saint. It is clear outline in black chalk. Mary is situated on the from the X-ray image of the work that Murillo right with the Christ Child in her lap, and in had experimented with a composition in an front of them is Saint Catherine of Alexandria outdoor setting, with the base of column holding the palm frond of martyrdom. The between the two women and a curtain behind saint extends her right hand to the mother and the Virgin, although in the end he opted for a child, reverently touching their hands. completely neutral backdrop. The flat appea- rance of the background strikes an elegant con- For a long time, this drawing was thought to trast with the details in the foreground, evident have been one that Murillo made for his oil in the carmine brushwork of the clothes and painting on the same theme, currently held in even more noticeably in the rapid white brus- Lisbon. However, recent studies suggest that hstrokes that form the transparent veils. it is an academic reproduction, probably by a direct disciple, and it therefore represents an Isabella II of Spain gave this painting to King important examples of the work produced in Louis I of Portugal for his gallery of paintings. the master’s studio. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] 6. 7. The Infant Saint John The Holy Family Playing with a Lamb About 1670-1675 About 1670-1675 Oil on canvas, 96.5 × 68.5 cm Oil on canvas, 61 × 44 cm The Devonshire Collection, National Gallery of Ireland, Chatsworth Dublín Murillo painted the theme of the Infant Saint The Holy Family at home in Nazareth was a John in the wilderness on several occasions. very popular devotional theme. As a pious, The saintly child is actually portrayed in a homely scene portrayed in an ordinary setting, scene from his adult life, following a figurative viewers easily identified with it. This motif tradition popularised in Europe by prints and lent itself to highly naturalistic interpretations, copies of works by Van Dyck and Reni, artists as Murillo did with this dimly lit interior, cre- who influenced Murillo’s style. ating a scene of great intimacy. This is a mature work in which the artist dis- The saint wears animal skins and a red cloak pensed with precisely drawn contours, com- and carries a cane bound in the form of a posing the fabrics and figures with light, sub- cross. The phylactery hanging from it bears tle dabs of the brush in a manner that is the inscription “Ecce ag[nus Dei]”. The lamb reminiscent of how colour is treated in many is a figurative symbol of Christ’s sacrifice, in of his small sketches and a testament to the reference to the words of John the Baptist degree of skill he had attained by the end of recorded in the Gospel: “Behold, the Lamb of his career. God, who taketh away the sin of the world.” [ 12 ] [ 13 ] 8. 9. Saint Joseph with Saint Joseph with the Christ Child the Child Jesus About 1655-1660 About 1660 Oil on canvas, Oil on canvas on board, 164.2 × 108.5 cm 29.7 × 24.5 cm Victor Fedotov Collection BBVA Collection, Madrid In Spain, depictions of Joseph with the Christ The composition of this small-format painting Child multiplied as veneration of the saint is identical to that of the substantially larger spread thanks to the efforts of religious orders. Saint Joseph with the Christ Child exhibited Saint Joseph is consistently depicted as a man alongside. This repetition offers us an oppor- far from old age in Murillo’s oeuvre; the artist tunity to examine Murillo’s creative process by insisted on portraying him in the prime of his identifying the two works at the same time. life, brimming with strength and vigour. This Despite its small size, the fact that it is only iconography of Saint Joseph travelling with the minimally sketched suggests it is not a prelim- Christ Child that was particularly popular in inary study used to experiment with a compo- the early decades of the 17th century and was sition but a complete work in its own right, often rendered in painted wood carvings, and made before or after the larger version. Murillo seems to have closely followed this precedent. In both cases, Saint Joseph is depicted as a vigorous man in his early prime, rather than The scene, a poignant dialogue of gazes and the elderly figure found in most iconographic gestures, underscores Joseph’s dual role as an representations up to that point. earthly father and an advocate who intercedes on the believer’s behalf before God. [ 14 ] [ 15 ] 10. 11. The Holy Family with The Flight into Egypt the Infant Saint John About 1668-1670 About 1668-1670 Oil on canvas, Oil on canvas, 155 × 125 cm 156 × 126 cm Szépm vészeti Múzeum, Szépm vészeti Múzeum, Budapest Budapest This work forms a pair with The Flight into Murillo had already depicted this iconography Egypt and can be seen as the depiction of a in his youth, around 1647-1650, in a quasi- private moment in the lives of an Andalusian Tenebrist style with certain naturalist features.